Couple Therapy Assessment, Evaluation, and Intervention

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of paradoxical couple therapy and affective reconstructive therapy in improving interpersonal mindfulness and reducing co-rumination among couples experiencing marital conflict. This applied quasi-experimental study employed a pretest–posttest control-group design with a two-month follow-up. The statistical population comprised couples with marital conflict who attended family counseling centers in Mashhad, Iran, during 2024–2025. Fifteen couples, including 30 individuals, were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to paradoxical couple therapy, affective reconstructive therapy, and control groups. The paradoxical couple therapy group received seven intervention sessions, whereas the affective reconstructive therapy group participated in eight sessions. The control group received no intervention during the study period. Data were collected using the Interpersonal Mindfulness Scale, Co-Rumination Questionnaire, and Marital Conflict Questionnaire. Repeated-measures analysis of variance with the Greenhouse–Geisser correction and Bonferroni post hoc comparisons was performed using SPSS version 25. The repeated-measures analysis revealed significant effects of time, group, and the time-by-group interaction on interpersonal mindfulness and co-rumination (p < .05). Bonferroni comparisons indicated that both paradoxical couple therapy and affective reconstructive therapy significantly increased interpersonal mindfulness and significantly reduced co-rumination compared with the control condition (p < .05). However, no statistically significant differences were found between the two intervention groups in their effects on either interpersonal mindfulness or co-rumination (p > .05). The therapeutic improvements observed following both interventions were maintained at the two-month follow-up assessment. Paradoxical couple therapy and affective reconstructive therapy appear to be effective and relatively durable interventions for enhancing interpersonal mindfulness and reducing co-rumination among couples with marital conflict. Because neither intervention demonstrated superior effectiveness, treatment selection may be guided by couples’ characteristics, therapists’ expertise, and available clinical resources. Nevertheless, the smaller number of sessions required for paradoxical couple therapy may make it a more time- and cost-efficient therapeutic option.

This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of women married before the age of 18 and to understand how they perceived, interpreted, and assigned meaning to early marriage and their subsequent lives. This qualitative study employed an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. The participants were eight women aged 22–45 years living in Tehran who had married before the age of 18 and had been married for at least five years. They were purposively recruited from healthcare centers, women’s support centers, and nongovernmental organizations working in the field of women’s welfare. Sample adequacy was determined through interpretative saturation. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews lasting 50–120 minutes. The interviews were analyzed according to the six-stage interpretative phenomenological analysis procedure proposed by Smith, Flowers, and Larkin, including repeated reading, descriptive, linguistic, and conceptual noting, development of emergent themes, thematic clustering, case-by-case analysis, and cross-case analysis. Yardley’s quality criteria, researcher reflexivity, and continuous examination of interpretative assumptions were applied to enhance the credibility of the findings. Four overarching themes emerged: “Unfinished Childhood: A Forced Leap into Adulthood and the Loss of Adolescence”; “A Body Belonging to Another: Unwanted Intimacy, Early Motherhood, and Loss of Bodily Agency”; “Confined by Silence and Subjugation: Domestic Violence, Dependency, and the Disintegration of the Self”; and “Reclaiming the Narrative: Resistance, Identity Recovery, and Meaning Reconstruction.” Together, these themes represented an existential trajectory beginning with the abrupt termination of childhood, bodily alienation, imposed silence, and identity erosion. For some participants, this trajectory gradually shifted toward resistance, educational or occupational independence, restoration of agency, and reconstruction of a meaningful personal identity. Early marriage was experienced not merely as a premature transition into marital life but as a profound rupture in developmental continuity, bodily autonomy, personal agency, and identity. Nevertheless, access to education, employment, social support, and opportunities to articulate personal experiences could facilitate identity reconstruction and the recovery of agency. The findings highlight the need for stronger legal and social measures to prevent child marriage and for trauma-informed, empowering interventions that support affected women in reclaiming control over their lives.

This study aimed to evaluate the fit of a conceptual model explaining the relationship between communication patterns and marital burnout through the mediating roles of forgiveness and self-worth in married women. This applied study employed a descriptive-correlational design based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population consisted of married women residing in Tehran in 2025/2026. Using the sample size recommendations of Tabachnick and Fidell and Cochran’s formula for an unlimited population, 385 married women were selected through convenience sampling from the northern, southern, eastern, western, and central regions of Tehran. Data were collected using the Pines Marital Burnout Scale, Christensen and Sullaway Communication Patterns Questionnaire, Pollard, Anderson, and Jennings Family Forgiveness Scale, and Crocker et al.’s Contingencies of Self-Worth Scale. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 25 and AMOS version 26. The structural model demonstrated acceptable fit indices, including RMSEA=0.041, GFI=0.945, CFI=0.949, IFI=0.950, NFI=0.932, and CMIN/DF=2.652. Communication patterns had a negative and significant direct effect on marital burnout (β=-0.381, CR=-8.088, p<0.001). Communication patterns also had positive and significant effects on forgiveness (β=0.383, CR=8.113, p<0.001) and self-worth (β=0.647, CR=16.628, p<0.001). Moreover, the indirect effect of communication patterns on marital burnout through forgiveness and self-worth was significant (β=-0.097, p<0.001). The separate indirect effects through forgiveness (β=-0.049, p<0.001) and self-worth (β=-0.050, p<0.001) were also significant. The findings indicate that effective communication patterns can reduce marital burnout among married women by enhancing forgiveness and self-worth. Accordingly, couple-based interventions should emphasize constructive communication, forgiveness, and self-worth to improve marital functioning.

This study aimed to explore women’s lived experiences of spousal emotional infidelity in digital interactions and its psychological consequences. An interpretive phenomenological approach was used. The participants included 15 married women living in Tehran who had experienced their spouse’s emotional infidelity in online environments and were selected through purposeful sampling until theoretical saturation was reached. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. The findings showed that digital emotional infidelity was associated with the collapse of emotional security, persistent preoccupation with virtual spaces, feelings of comparison and inadequacy, enduring distrust, and attempts to rebuild the relationship. The results indicated that hidden digital interactions, even without physical involvement, can cause profound emotional harm and weaken marital relationship quality. Therefore, couple therapists should pay special attention to digital relational boundaries and trust reconstruction in damaged relationships.

This study aimed to explore the process of emotional intimacy erosion among couples experiencing chronic marital conflict. A qualitative design based on thematic analysis was employed. The participants included 18 individuals from couples referred to family counseling centers in Tehran, selected through purposeful sampling until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using NVivo software. The findings indicated that emotional intimacy erosion was experienced through themes such as communication exhaustion, gradual emotional shutdown, perceived emotional neglect, and the cycle of conflict and distancing. The results showed that persistent unresolved conflicts, poor empathic communication, and reduced emotional validation contributed to emotional distancing and loneliness within the marital relationship. Accordingly, reconstructing emotional interactions and strengthening communication skills appear essential in couple therapy.

The present study aimed to examine the role of social media addiction in marital burnout through the mediating roles of communication conflicts and emotional loneliness. The expansion of social media has created new opportunities for communication, entertainment, and information exchange; however, excessive and uncontrolled use may have harmful consequences for marital relationships. In many couples, spending excessive time online may reduce psychological presence in the relationship, increase social comparison, intensify sensitivity to a partner’s online interactions, and decrease face-to-face communication. Such patterns can contribute to repeated misunderstandings, emotional distance, and dissatisfaction. Social media addiction may also weaken intimacy by diverting attention from the partner, reducing responsiveness to emotional needs, and increasing secrecy or mistrust in the relationship. Marital burnout refers to a state of emotional exhaustion, relational disappointment, reduced affection, and negative attitudes toward the marital relationship. Communication conflicts and emotional loneliness may serve as important mediating mechanisms in the association between social media addiction and marital burnout. In other words, excessive social media use may first increase communication problems and emotional isolation within the relationship, and these factors may subsequently intensify marital burnout. This study used a descriptive-correlational design based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population consisted of married men and women, and participants were selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected using standardized measures of social media addiction, communication conflicts, emotional loneliness, and marital burnout. The findings showed that social media addiction had a significant direct effect on marital burnout. In addition, communication conflicts and emotional loneliness significantly mediated this relationship. The proposed model demonstrated acceptable fit indices. These results indicate that problematic social media use should be considered an important relational risk factor in contemporary marital life. Based on the findings, educational and counseling interventions focused on digital self-regulation, healthy boundaries for social media use, improvement of couple communication, and reduction of emotional loneliness may help prevent marital burnout and strengthen marital quality.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a psychological capital training package for couples and examine its effectiveness on marital adjustment and relational resilience. Psychological capital consists of hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism, and it can play a significant role in how couples cope with marital stress, communication difficulties, and family crises. Couples with higher psychological capital are more likely to approach relational challenges with flexibility, problem-solving ability, positive expectations, and persistence. Instead of relying on blame, avoidance, or withdrawal, such couples may use constructive strategies to manage difficulties and maintain emotional connection. Although psychological capital has been widely examined in organizational and educational settings, its application in couple relationships has received less systematic attention. Therefore, developing a couple-oriented training package based on psychological capital may provide a preventive and empowering framework for improving marital functioning. This study employed a mixed-methods design. In the qualitative phase, the components of the training package were identified through a review of relevant literature and semi-structured interviews with experts in family counseling, positive psychology, and couple therapy. The session content, educational objectives, practical exercises, homework assignments, and implementation procedures were then developed and validated by specialists. In the quantitative phase, the effectiveness of the package was examined using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a control group. Participants were couples seeking to improve their relationship quality and were selected through purposive sampling. They were assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received the psychological capital training package in structured sessions, whereas the control group received no intervention during the study period. Data were collected using measures of marital adjustment and relational resilience. The findings indicated that the developed package had satisfactory content validity and significantly improved marital adjustment and relational resilience in the experimental group compared with the control group. These results suggest that psychological capital training can be used as a preventive, educational, and therapeutic approach in couple counseling centers to strengthen adaptive coping, hope, optimism, and resilience in marital relationships.

The present study aimed to develop a structural model of marital satisfaction based on mindfulness and self-compassion with the mediating role of emotional intimacy among married couples. Marital satisfaction is one of the most important indicators of family health and relational well-being, and it is influenced by a complex set of cognitive, emotional, and interpersonal factors. In recent years, mindfulness and self-compassion have received increasing attention as psychological capacities that can enhance mental health and improve interpersonal functioning. Mindfulness, defined as nonjudgmental awareness of present-moment experience, may help couples respond to relational stress with greater emotional awareness, less impulsivity, and more adaptive communication. Mindful individuals are more likely to recognize their emotional reactions without immediately acting on them, which can reduce escalation during marital conflicts. Self-compassion, which involves kindness toward oneself, recognition of common humanity, and balanced awareness of painful experiences, may also contribute to healthier marital functioning. Individuals with higher self-compassion may be less self-critical, more emotionally stable, and more capable of expressing empathy toward their partners. However, the effects of mindfulness and self-compassion on marital satisfaction may be strengthened through emotional intimacy. Emotional intimacy refers to feelings of closeness, trust, mutual understanding, and emotional sharing, and it is considered a central foundation of a satisfying marital relationship. This study used a descriptive-correlational design and structural equation modeling. The statistical population consisted of married couples, and participants were selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected using standardized questionnaires measuring mindfulness, self-compassion, emotional intimacy, and marital satisfaction. The findings indicated that mindfulness and self-compassion directly predicted marital satisfaction and also had significant indirect effects through emotional intimacy. The proposed model showed acceptable fit indices. These results suggest that enhancing mindfulness and self-compassion may improve marital satisfaction by increasing emotional intimacy and reducing maladaptive emotional reactions. Accordingly, couple-based educational and therapeutic programs can benefit from incorporating mindfulness practices, self-compassion training, and exercises designed to strengthen emotional closeness between partners.